Freedom from Fear

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty...he will deliver you...you will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday." Psalm 91:3-6 (excerpt)

For those of us who fear this passage seems like a life raft, for those who have experienced loss and pain it seems like mockery. But what is the Lord promising us here?

He promises a place of refuge, a shelter from evil; he promises to be our defense from attack, and he promises us that we will not fear. But nowhere does he promise us freedom from affliction. He does not promise that the attacking army will never come but rather that, when indeed it does, we have a ready defense in him and that we need not fear.

There are few things that truly cause me fear. I generally feel that there are not a lot of things that could truly threaten my happiness it security but one of those that can is the allred and death if a loved one. Because of events if the past few years, I have become particularly afraid if cancer.

It is like a stealthy assassin, sneaking into your very body, unnoticed until it is too late. It's crippling kind of fear, and there is no guarantee, not even from God that it will not affect your life. Quite the opposite, odds are that it will!

Yet this psalm promises a place of refuge, a shelter, and freedom from fear. I admit I'm not exactly sure how to claim that at this point, but I know that it its true and that is hope itself.

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